[Foundation-l] Sexual harassment in Wikipedia

Tue Nov 14 09:00:47 UTC 2006

I think that is what both Jimbo and I said... 

What the privacy policy states (the way I read it) is that Checkusers are
allowed to release IP information when one of the conditions for release
(e.g. abuse of resources, or in this case, threats against a community
member) are met, and there is no better alternative than to release them
immediately. For example, a Checkuser in the English Wikipedia is allowed to
release the IP of a vandal who is creating a plethora of accounts with the
sole intent of vandalizing the site; in fact, every time a Checkuser blocks
a vandal IP based on Checkuser information, the IP is released into the
block log. I cannot imagine a scenario in which a police officer approaches
a user with the appropriate privileges, identifies himself satisfactorily,
and makes it clear beyond any doubt that the information is going to be used
in a rape/stalking/solicitation investigation, and is refused the
information he needs. Of course, it may be appropriate to "kick him
upstairs" to the Florida office as soon as possible, if the situation is not
as urgent.

Titoxd.

-----Original Message-----
From: foundation-l-bounces at wikimedia.org
[mailto:foundation-l-bounces at wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of roc
Sent: Tuesday, November 14, 2006 12:20 AM
To: Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] Sexual harassment in Wikipedia

By "sexual harassment", THD was trying to explain the online
harassment/stalking/solicitation accident in which a female user at
Chinese Wikipedia was threaten to be raped. It does not mean the kind
of sexual harassment in a working environment. In addition to THD's
description, the victim's real life name was used in the threat; this
name has never been disclosed by the victim on Wikipedia.

We respect the freedom of speech and other civil rights, but we are
not obligated to provide a place for any speech or act, especially
when such an act seriously violates other people's civil rights or
safety. I totally agree with Gregory that we protect the
visitor/user's privacy because of our high ethical values and the
furthering of interests of both the WMF and the public. We are not
going to protect everyone's privacy at all times, especially when it
is *necessary* to protect our values or interests or safety. Indeed,
in Wikipedia's privacy policy
(http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_policy, link found at
bottom of every page on Wikipedia), there are several circumstances
that allow the release of IP information:
1. In response to a valid subpoena or other compulsory request from
law enforcement.
...
6. Where it is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property or
safety of the Wikimedia Foundation, its users or the public.

I believe that tolerating such a personal violence threat (using the
word "rape" and the victim's undisclosed real-life name) would be a
neglect to the safety of our users and the health of our community,
which is essential to Wikimedia's success and missions.

Regarding policies and procedures, I think that WMF should either
dictate privacy policies of all its projects or give authorizations to
the community/people it trusts, as long as it conforms with the best
interests of WMF, the project, and the public. I believe that the
privacy policy of Chinese Wikipedia is governed by the WMF. In this
privacy policy, it is stated that "personally identifiable data...may
be released by...users with CheckUser access", does it mean that
checkusers/stewards are authorized to release IP information of a
registered user without seeking approval for each case from the Board
or Executive?

Best regards,

roc
--

2006/11/13, shi zhao <shizhao at gmail.com>:
> see http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Privacy_policy
>
> "6 Where it is reasonably necessary to protect the rights, property or
> safety of the Wikimedia Foundation, its users or the public."
>
> plese help!
>
> 2006/11/11, Erik Moeller <erik at wikimedia.org>:
> > On 11/10/06, Ray Saintonge <saintonge at telus.net> wrote:
> > > Essentially I agree. It all comes down to mature judgement, and who is
> > > capable of exercising it.  We have a lot of people who can too easily
> > > jump to conclusions.
> >
> > Yes. One question is whether we want every language and project
> > community to develop its own policy on these matters, or whether this
> > is an area where it makes sense to have a single policy that is
> > localized. This goes for checkuser and oversight as well. Perhaps an
> > in-between solution makes sense, where the WMF requires that local
> > policies identify and propose a group that consists of the most
> > trusted users before granting these privileges on a language/project
> > level.
> >
> > Perhaps it should also be a requirement that users who have the
> > technical permission to use these tools disclose their identity to the
> > WMF, so we have someone to deal with in case of abuse.
> > --
> > Peace & Love,
> > Erik
> >
> > Member, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
> >
> > DISCLAIMER: Unless otherwise stated, all views or opinions expressed
> > in this message are solely my own and do not represent an official
> > position of the Wikimedia Foundation or its Board of Trustees.
> > _______________________________________________
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> > foundation-l at wikimedia.org
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> >
>
>
> --
> Chinese wikipedia: http://zh.wikipedia.org/
> My blog: http://talk.blogbus.com
> CNBlog: http://blog.cnblog.org/weblog.html
> Social Brain: http://www.socialbrain.org/default.asp
> cnbloggercon: http://www.cnbloggercon.org/
>
> [[zh:User:Shizhao]]
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